Agricultural machine.



Patented Jan. 1, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEETI L. WAGNER.

l AGRICULTURAL MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY I5|`l9l 6.

Patented J an. 1, 1918.

UNITEDz STATES 4PATENT OFFICE.

oms WAGNER, or NEWBERG, OREGON, AssIGNon oF ONE-HALF 'ro EDWARD canna,

or NEWBEBG, OREGON.

AGRICULTURAL MACHINE.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, Louis WAGNER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Newberg, Yamhill county, State of Oregon, have invented a certain new and useful Im provement in Agricultural Machines, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide a machine by which the steps of preparing the soil, and seeding, may be efficiently performed. The advantage of thoroughly pulverizing the soil is well known. To this endv my machine comprises a plurality of disks the periphery of which is p-rovided with small saw-like teeth, and the disks rotate on inclined aXis so disposed that each disk in its complete rotation will act upon the full width of the soil lying between planes of adjoining disks. My machine further embodies means -for rotatin these disks at' a high rate, also for regulatlng the depth of the cut and pulverizing work done by the disks and leveling the pulverized ground; it also' includes means for planting seed in the repared ground and relatively to the dept to which the soil has been pulverized. If referred, the disksmay be arranged in divlded units, the disks 4of one unit being inclined oppositely to thedisks of the other unit. It is further my object to arrange .and build my machine in convenient and compact form. y Y

Other special features and the general construction and operation of my machine are hereinafter fully described.

In the accompanying drawin s:

Figure 1 is a side elevation o my device;

Fig. l* is a sectional detail of construction;

gig. 2 is al fragmental view of the device; an i Fig-3 shows an alternate arrangement of the pulverizing device when the latter is usedV for cultivating on opposite sides of rows, after the ground has been planted.

a represents a tractor, of which b are the front wheels, c the rear wheels, d the ordi-zy na clutch operating lever, and e the jack' shdvigt of the transmission; The jack shaft is made with iioating ends connected by a differential gearingwhich is' indicated by the housing f and gis the'power shaft of the tractor. l-Tor facilitatingthe operation of` turning, the rear wheels ofthe tractor are adapted to be driven independently, and to specification nf utters Patent.

Application filed May 16, 1916.

this end the said wheels c are loosely journaled on an axle h. A sprocket i on the jack shaft e is connected by a chain drive j with a sprocket which is fixed on a normally idle clutch member le. l,A longitudinalll mova'ble clutch member l, connected wlth the wheel c, is adapted to be shifted into engagement with. the clutch member k by means of a lever m shown only in Fig. l. In this way either or both of the wheels c may be driven. Adjacent the outer ends of the jack shaft e are floating shafts n, adapted to be thrown into or out of engagement with said jackshaft ends by friction clutches o controlled by operating levers p. On the outer ends of the shafts n are fixed pulleys g. One of the tractor wheels c is provided on its outer side with av bevel gear r, shown only in Fig. 2. .s represents the beams of the tractor chassis, t is the drivers seat, t isthe steering column, and u is a bell-crank lever pivoted in the position shown in Fig. 1. A shifting lever o is mounted on the truck at the left of the drivers seat, thefunction of this lever being to shift a longitudinally movable bevel gear w into and out of engagement with the gear r. Arms m are` pivotally supported by the chassis beams, said su ports being concentric with the shafts n.,

h e tractor thus far detailed represents a type of common construction, but embody ing several additional novel features not ordinarily used in other tractors. I merelyillustrate this tractor for the purpose of showing a suitable power device adapted to be used in connection with the Vparts which form the major portion of my invention. These latter parts are in the form of a combined device adapted to be attached to the i tractor as extra equipment, and when de; tached the tractor may be used for ordinary farm work. Y

A frame y is provided with parallel arms z adapted to be connected to the arms a' by the bolts 2. Said frame y is provided with a cross member 3, and the latter is connected to an arm of the bell-crank leveru by a cable 4. In this way when the lever u is rocked forward the frame y will be lifted and the parts carried by said frame elevated clear of the ground'. The outer ends of the frame y are supported by standards 7, vertically adjustable in boxes 5 by rotating the screws 8 provided with hand-wheels 9. In this way the depth of the work done by the disks 11 is r ilated. An arbor 10, the center portion o which is of square cross-section, is rotatably journaled transversely beneath the frame y, and a plurality of saw-V like disks 11, having square centers adapted 'to fit the squared portion of the arbor, are

assembled ,in the position shown in Fig. 2. The disks are s aced apart by the spacers 12 and clamped rmly in. place by a nut 13. Furthermore, the outside' distance between the end disks is slightly greater than the outside distance between the tractor wheels c, so that the earth compressed by said wheels will be acted upon. The peripheral teeth of tli'e disks are made of small size and sawlike, so as to cut readily. As alread v stated, I depend upon the hi h rate at w ich the disks are driven for e ecting the pulverizing of the soil. For the purpose of safety,

the disks are covered by a guard casing 15,

which is omitted in Fig. 2. On the ends of the arbor 10 are pulleys 16 connected with the pulleys q by driving belts 17. It will be noted that the disks 11 are all parallel and located angularly with respect to their axis A ing device, as shown in Fig. 1, and 1s adaptof rotation. The purpose of this arrangement is to cause the disks, in their operation, to act uponl the full width ofthe soil' lying betweenV the planes of adjoining disks. When the clutch members o are in engagef ment, the pulleys g will be drivenv at a higher rate of speed, andths drive will be trans-l mitted through the medium of the belts-17 to the disks, causing the latter to rotate in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 1 at a very high speed, so as to thoroughly pulverize the ground to a uniform depth, which depth is regulated by the rollers Supported at the rear end of the frame y -is a transverse shaft 18, on Whichis mount-4 v ed'an adjustable baille-board 19, adaptedv to be set at the required angle by means of the set-screw 20. The earththrown backward -by the rotatingsaws will strike this bailleboard and be leveled out by the latter. Bellcranks 21 are fixed on opposite ends of --the shaft 18 and one of said bell-cranks is 4made vwith a lever .handle 21',` by meansof which p said bellcranks may be rocked. A pin 2 2 removably mounted lin one'ofjtlie holes of a quadrant 23, the latter beingffij'igidly mountved on the frame y, forms a stop to limit the being adjustably Partsarm of the bell-l cranks,l are end to the upright arm of and provide' for a plantin device which is supported by these lizer at a hig his planting device is constructed means of bevel gears 30, one of 'the latter be.

ingfxed on a driven shaft 31. The shaft 31 is mounted in bearings on the. frame 25, and has on its outer end a bevel gear 32. The latter is in mesh with and driven by a bevel gear 33, which is fixed on one end of a square shaft 34, and on the other end of the latter is slidably mounted the gear w, which is adapted to be placed into or out of engagement with-the gear r by means of the lever fv, shown in Fi 1. The planting device isfurther provided with lateral arms 35 which are supported by the outer ends of the links 24, and the lower arms of the bell cranks 21. The vertical pipe 29 has a foot 36 which pro'eets down into the ground and forms a gui e for the -seeds which are deposited into the ground at uniform intervals. An adjustable follow-board 37 is mounted on lateral arms 35 at the rear of the planted to perform the two-fold function of acting as 'a gage to regulate the depth at which the seeds are planted, and alsoto follow in the rear of the planting foot so as to cover.r over the furrows made by the latter, and to further level off the earth. The planting device is for the greater part of well known v construction, and is therefore not fully detailed herein, but merely shown in more or less diagrammatic form because of its close association with the major portion of my invention, 4

The general `operation of my invention may be summarized as follows: The parts are first assembled as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the rolls 6, baille-board 19 and follow-board 37 bei 'adjusted to the pro er degree.v4 When t e engine is startedandl all clutch elements engaged'the tractor will move forward, drivin the saws of the earth pulverspeed in the direction indicated in Fig. 1. `The earth vwill be thoroughllyHpulvei-ized to' lve line particles, and the b e-board will leve said earth out toa smooth surface. The 4planting device will then 'operate so as to de vosit seeds at the counter-clockwise rotation of. said bells, cranks. Links x24, parallel with the lorweiw..

ivoted at one* e bell cranks,

arallel movement A'of the roper depth and 'interva after which the ollow-board will cover up the furrows and iput a finishing level on the earth.

When the deviceis to be turned, onefofthe r and w, andl thereby disconnect the rive on the Seeding device, the'clutch levers p are'operated so-'as to disconnect the 'drive on the pulverizing device, and the bellcrank leveru is rocked forward so as to lift the pulveriaing and planting appw vice is to be operated for cultivating the earth after planting. In this construction the pulverizer consists of two sections' A andB, symmetrically located with respect to a transverse center line, and spaced apart as shown, for the purpose of straddling a row of plants. When this device is used, the planting apparatus is, of course, dispensed with.

From the description of parts and the explanation of their functions, itis obvious that the machine re resented in this application is a combin machine, operable `by one man, and adapted to perform simultaneously, in a single operation, the steps hither.`

to performed by a series of operations. In otherwords, Where formerly the ground was required to be plowed, then harrowed, and freiently reharrowed, before planting, the wor of preparing the ground and planting is performed by this machine in operating once over the ground. The advantages of such device as an economist of time and labor is readily apparent. Of course, the structure shown in the drawings may be greatly modified Without departin from the spirit of the invention, and I consi er myself entitled to use this machine in the manner most conformable to the work to be done.

I claim:

1. A machine of the character described com rising a 'wheel mounted body, a rear- War ly extending frame hinged to, such body, earth workingmeans rotatably mount- `ed in the free end of said frame, means for supporting the free end of said frame above the ground, a baille board supported by said frame behind said eaxth working means and adapted to confine and level again the earth thrown up by said earth working means, means for driving the earth working means at a high rate, and a seeder supported by said frame behind the balie board ada ted, to discharge its seed in the furrow o the pulverized soil prepared by the earth working means, the supporting means of the seeder being adapted to permit vertical 4movement of said seeder and including a support bearing on the ground.

2. A machine of the character described comprising a wheel mounted body, a rearwardly extending frame hinged to such body, earth working means rotatably mounted in the free end of said frame, means for supporting the free end of said frame above the ground, abaflle board supported behind said earth working means and adapted to confine and level again the earth thrown up by the earth working means, means for driving the earth working means at a high rate, a bell crank fulcrumed to the free end of said frame, means for limiting the movement of the bell crankV on its fulcrum, a seeder pivotally connected to said bell crank, and a support for said seeder, such support bearing on the ground.

3. A machine of the character described comprising a wheel mounted body, a rearwardly extending frame hinged to such body, earth working means, means for su porting the free end of said frame above t e ground, a baille board supported by said frame behind said earth working means and adapted to confine, andA level again, the earth thrown up by the earth working means, means for driving the earth working means at a high rate, a bell crank fulcrumed to the free end of said frame, means for limiting the movement of the bell crank on its fulcrum, a `seeder pivotally connected to said bell crank, and a vertically adjustable support for said seeder, su'ch support bearing on the ground.

4. In a machine of the character described, the combination of revolving earth pulverizing means, a baille Vboard behind sald means and adapted to confine, and level again, the earth thrown up by the same, and a seeder behind the baille board adapted to discharge its seed downV in the furrow of pulverized soil prepared by said earth u1- verizing means, the su portmg means o the seeder being adapte to perxnlt vertlcal movement of said seeder and mcluding a support bearing on t he ound. LOIS WAGNER.' 

